Heaven Knows It's High Time
by GildedButterfly
Summary: Yes, it's another one of those 'what if Jacob had stopped Bella from jumping off the cliff and Edward had never come back' stories. But kinda different. We all know Edward will be back anyway, just bear with me for a little bit. DISCONTINUED.
1. Downpour on the Cliff Top

**I know this storyline has been completely overdone, but it was the scenario I couldn't get out of my head, and hopefully you'll enjoy my take on it.  
There will be Edward to come, and hopefully some unexpected plot twists too (don't ask me too much about them, I haven't really figured it out myself yet). If you're a hardcore Edward fan though, this might not be for you. Enjoy, and review if you have the time :)**

* * *

_I smiled and raised my arms straight out, as if I were going to dive, lifting my face into the rain. But it was too ingrained from years of swimming at the public pool- feet first, first time. I leaned forward, crouching to get more spring…_

And two strong arms grabbed me from behind, propelling me away from the edge of the cliff and back into the driving rain. More from the shock than my innate clumsiness, I ended up tripping over a rock and falling onto my butt, where I gazed up into the somewhat displeased face of Jacob.

"What the hell, Bella?! What happened to waiting for me? Are you trying to get yourself killed?" he exclaimed as he yanked me to my feet.

I shook my head numbly, finding it difficult to adjust to the transition from the gentle voice of my fantasy to the harsh anger of this reality.

I looked up again, and saw Jacob's face crumble.

"Unless… Bella… you weren't, were you? I thought… it was getting better… I thought… maybe… I helped… a little?"

The pain on his face was so potent that for a minute I was speechless. Then I was just plain horrified.

"No!" I exploded. "Jake, no. I could never do that to Charlie, or you for that matter. You should know that."

"So you were about to take a swan dive off a cliff top for what reason then, Bells?"

That stopped me in my tracks. Until this moment, Jacob had never before questioned the motives behind my sudden penchant for extreme sports.

I mumbled something about being sick of sitting on the beach, which seemed to satisfy him for the time being. At the very least, the suspicion left his face and he hugged me fiercely.

"Don't you EVER do that to me again, Isabella Swan. Do you have any idea how terrified I was when I looked up from the empty beach and saw you?"

"I'm sorry," I mumbled meekly, my voice muffled by his broad chest.

He led me slowly back to the truck, our progress impeded by the fact that I couldn't seem to release my grip from around his waist. The adrenaline that had been pumping through my body, preparing me for a dive into the waves, had by now utterly deserted me, and I felt completely drained.

Jake helped me into the passenger seat of the car, and drove quickly, stealing anxious glances at me whenever he got the chance. After a couple of minutes of this I began to get irritated.

"ENOUGH, Jake. I'm not about to open the truck door and jump out in an attempt to end my life, okay?"

"Sorry Bells, it's not that I'm worried about, I swear. I'm just trying to work out how to tell you something without upsetting you too much."

I unconsciously stiffened, a million horrible Victoria-related possibilities passing through my head immediately.

"Harry Clearwater had a heart attack today."

I gazed at him, utterly staggered.

"He's at the hospital now. Charlie's already there, with Sam and the others. Things aren't looking too great, but everyone's together and safe."

"I…uh…okay. We're going to the hospital now, right?"

"Not a chance. You look completely worn out. I'm taking you back to the house, you can crash there for a while."

"Jake! I'm fine! I should be with Charlie…" My voice trailed off, since the look on his face told me that pleading wasn't going to make one iota of difference. I noticed the dark circles under his eyes, even more prominent today than a mere few of days ago. This had the effect of silencing me completely, and we drew up to his house in unnatural quiet.

Once inside, Jake bundled me onto the couch before grabbing blankets and settling himself beside me. His eyes closed immediately while I flicked through the television channels, and I noted how peaceful he looked when he was sleeping. He reverted back into the Jacob who had begun to heal me, as opposed to the slightly more complex wolf-Jacob who was around these days. The sense of loss I felt over my best friend's simpler incarnation was startling, I had been so relieved when he finally let me in on his secret that I hadn't given it much thought before. When he slept, he seemed to let go of the weight he now carried around with him all day, and he relaxed back into the person I had come to think of as my own personal sun. I stroked a lock of hair away from his face as he snored softly, and lay down beside him to warm myself after the downpour on the cliff top.

I wished I could ease his pain, and somehow make the transition into what he had become easier. Such a feat seemed impossible though, when I could barely hold myself together. The thought jarred me though, as I noticed the parallels in our situations. Perhaps we were helping each other adjust to the undesired change of course our lives had taken. We would emerge from the wreckage of our shattered futures damaged, but I knew with a perfect clarity that I could make it through, as long as Jacob was there for me. It was with this thought and a small smile playing on my lips that I slipped into unconsciousness, my head against his still form.

Time passed. It must have.

The next thing I knew, I was being thrown backwards across the Blacks front room. I heard a frenzied cry of "BELLA, RUN!" and looked up, disoriented. My friend had disappeared, the now familiar form of a large wolf taking his place, facing…

My heart skipped a beat, as I took in the flaming orange hair, the animalistic snarl, the black eyes that burned with hunger as she glared past the wolf, never taking her eyes from me.

A guttural roar was building inside him, as he half turned towards me too. The black eyes of Jacob pierced into me, screaming at me to leave.

I half stumbled, half ran from the room, a cry escaping me as I heard the unmistakeable sound of marble crashing into the breakable form of my best friend.


	2. Shards of Glass

_I half stumbled, half ran from the room, a cry escaping me as I heard the unmistakeable sound of marble crashing into the human, breakable form of my best friend._

I smashed through the back door of the Blacks' house, half reeling from shock and fear. My feet pounded an uneven rhythm along the ground as I attempted to run, tripping over everything and nothing at all, as my mind snapped a million different pictures of Jacob Black broken, damaged beyond repair by me and for me. I couldn't escape it now. I was fairly aware of the hurt I was causing him by being around so much, by being so close to him and yet never allowing him to cross that final barrier. Yet, the guilt I felt before was nothing to the pounding heartache it caused within me now. It was because of me that Jacob was in this situation. It was because I allowed myself to be around him so much that he felt so strongly for me. It was because of his strong feelings for me that he was now fighting with his life to protect mine. The sobs overtook me and I bent double as I reached the front of the house, allowing the panic to completely engulf me for a brief moment. Then I was running again.

All the while the noise emanating from Jacob's small house was rising. The snarls and crashes shot through me, and I climbed quickly into my truck without even realising what I was doing. My mind nearly lost to the paralysing fear, I clutched at the only reason left within me; the only thing I knew I could do to help.

_I had to get to Sam._

I hadn't forgotten what Jacob had said: the pack were all at the hospital. In their worry and upset over Harry Clearwater, there would be no phasing. There would be no way to know the danger Jacob now faced, the danger Jacob was facing alone. Fumbling now, I started the car and stepped on the gas, pushing my truck to its very limit as I sped away. I was almost out of sight of the small house when I heard a crashing sound, the noise reverberating in my head long after it had gone quiet. I glanced in the rear-view mirror in time to see a large russet wolf fly through the front window, landing with a thump on the ground in front of the house. The shards of glass framing his still form sparkled in the dull light of the afternoon. My previously broken and nowhere near healed heart shattered into pieces with the window, and uncontrollable sobs were now wrung out of my body as I drove out of sight, unable to see whether or not Jacob would rise. One coherent thought remained in my mind.

_Sam._

In truth, I have no idea how long the drive to the hospital took. It seemed to last an eternity, but at the same time, I was running again almost immediately, out of the car and up to the hospital entrance. I flew past everything, thinking of nothing but getting to Sam. I was racing through the entrance doors when I ran straight into Embry. If he hadn't grabbed my arms and held me in place, I would have ran straight by.

"Bella, you okay? If it's Charlie you're looking for, he's just left. Visiting hours are over and they're sending everyone home for a while."

"No. Sam. Where's Sam?" I could barely get the words out.

Luckily Embry seemed to determine from my expression that it wasn't the time for questions. He steered me into a ward on the left hand side. Sam was standing at the end of a corridor with a small group of people. As soon as I registered this, I took off running and reached the group in seconds. Sam stared at me in surprise.

"I… she… his house…Jacob… fighting…" I panted.

I have no idea how Sam understood the horrific meaning my battered mind was attempting to portray Tarzan-style, but he did. A thousand emotions played over his face in a single second before the expressionless mask set in.

"Emily, take care of Bella and warn Billy. Let's go, now."

The latter half of his comment he directed to the three males in the group, who I now realised were Jared, Paul and Embry, Embry having arrived silently behind me at some point. They left immediately, faster than I dared to believe, leaving me in an empty corridor with Emily. It was then that my legs gave out, and I slid down the wall and landed with a thump on the floor. The sobbing, which had receded a little while I relayed my message, returned with a force that shook my entire body. I felt Emily's arm wind around my shoulder, and I sensed the silent support emanating from her as she sat quietly beside me on the hospital floor. It was that more than anything that allowed me to calm myself, enough that she was able to lead me to a plastic bench in the hospital's main entrance. Sitting me down and telling me she'd be back before I knew it, she hurried back the way we'd come, no doubt to relay the news to Billy.

I slumped back into the seat, watching the sea of nameless faces that passed me by. Some checking in, some checking out. Some in obvious pain, some in obvious anxiety and worry. None of it mattered. Everything was dark without the sun in my sky.

"Hey honey, how're you doing now?" Emily was back.

"I'm… calmer." I said carefully.

"Okay, well Billy's gonna stay here with the Clearwaters until we know what's happening down at the house. I'm taking you back with me for dinner."

"Thanks Emily, that's really nice of you. I need to go home to Charlie though, he'll be worried about Harry and I don't want him to be alone."

I could see the battle in her mind displayed across her ruined features. Sam had told her to take care of me, and the probable meaning behind that phrase was 'make sure Bella doesn't do anything stupid and get herself killed in this fight'. But she also knew how Charlie would be suffering. Her compassion won out, and I knew her decision before she spoke a single word.

I started up my car again, after promising profusely to call if I needed anything and to stay put at Charlie's until we knew what was going on.

The rain started up as I entered Forks, falling lightly as I parked the truck and made my way into the house. Charlie was seated at the empty kitchen table, staring into space. He looked up vacantly as I clattered in.

"Hey Bells, where have you been?"

I wrapped him in a hug.

"I went to the hospital but you'd already left. I'm so sorry about Harry, Dad," I murmured. It was as near to the truth as he could handle right now.

"Thanks Bells."

I disentangled myself and began making dinner. Anything to keep my mind busy. My hands were shaking, and I had to concentrate on taking deep breaths. I figured given Charlie's distracted state all I had to do was remain calm and give perfunctory answers should any conversation arise. I was right, and dinner passed in relative silence, until Charlie left to go back to the hospital, apologising for leaving me alone so much. I assured him as convincingly as I could that I was fine, and told him to concentrate on being with his friend.

A dreamlike state descended upon me after he left. I wandered aimlessly between rooms, staring at nothing in particular. Time seemed to slow to a stop, and when I shook myself and came to, I was sure that over an hour had passed. I snapped when I noticed the light outside was unchanged, and a look at the clock confirmed a mere ten minutes of difference to when I'd last looked.

"Enough," I muttered under my breath as I left the house, jumped in the car, and began the inevitable journey to La Push.

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**A/N: Sorry for another cliffhanger, I couldn't help myself. I swear the next chapter will reveal what happened with the fight...  
And thanks so much to blueandblack, literaryrose and Toxic-Tears-123 for my first ever reviews :)**


	3. Carved Crescent Moons

**I was totally convinced this chapter would be the death of me. If it wasn't for coffee, the itunes 'Repeat Item' option and the Brand New song 'Degausser', I'd probably still be sitting at 200 words and no idea how to continue.  
****This chapter was originally going to have much more happen in it, but like I tend to do, I ended up overdescribing the first half. So I decided to split the chapter into two separate ones, which should hopefully mean the next one won't be as much of a pain in the ass to write.  
I hope you like it, and remember, reviews are love :)**

* * *

"_Enough," I muttered under my breath, as I left the house, jumped in the car, and began the inevitable journey to La Push._

My hands clenched around the steering wheel, my knuckles white. My heart was beating frenetically and each breath I drew in was halting, never deep enough to soothe the nerves I felt building in my stomach. I drew to a stop in front of the Blacks' house, pulled the key out of the ignition and placed my hand on the door handle, ready to jump out.

Ready to jump out in theory, anyway.

In actuality my hand was frozen on the door, and I couldn't seem to shake the paralysing fear from my legs to make them move.

It occurred to me that this, right at this very moment, was the most idiotic instant of my life. More ridiculously stupid than my previous attempts at recklessness. Here I was, willingly bringing myself to the place where I had last seen a blood-crazed vampire, intent on destroying me. Willingly bringing myself to the place where I might see the …

I could barely even form the words in my head. I looked out over the scene in front of me, the sparkling glass and broken furniture, my tears blurring my vision.

_Where I might see the ruined form of Jacob Black._

Stupidity be damned. Jacob Black was the only thing currently keeping me alive. I would walk straight into hell if it meant helping him. Taking a deep breath, I stepped out of the car.

The front lawn was quiet, a silent aftermath to the noisy carnage it had been witness to. The glass crunched under my feet as I made my way up to the door, dragging my leaden body over the threshold and steeling myself for whatever I might find inside.

I turned into the front room and used the door frame to support myself as I took in the picture of destruction unfolding before my eyes. The room was utterly wrecked. I crossed to the damaged couch, and found it difficult to believe that just a few hours before I was curled up there with him, as carefree as I was likely to get at this stage of my life. Looking down, I saw something on the ground and knelt beside it.

A piece of russet fur. A piece of russet fur stained with blood.

My world tipped sideways and everything went black.

* * *

When I became myself again, I was curled up on the remains of the Blacks' couch, my head buried in a piece of the tattered blanket. My eyes stung as I opened them, and I noted the darkening light.

It was then that I heard the soft crunch that must have been the thing to raise me from my stupor. The thing that indicated someone crossing the front lawn, nearing closer to the house with every step they took. I froze, the muscles in my body unconsciously tensing as my wide eyes attempted to see in the failing light. I saw a shadow pass by the broken window, heard the creaks informing me of their progress to the door. I shifted myself slightly until I was facing the entrance to the room, able to stare straight at whatever fate was throwing my way.

There was nothing but silence. An eerie silence. The fear I couldn't control left an acrid taste in my mouth, and the hairs on the back of my neck prickled. My breath caught in my throat and my nails carved crescent moons in my palms.

A creak.

They were in the house now.

A shadow.

Growing closer to me.

A shape appearing in the doorway.

A shape walking forwards across the room.

A shape stopping in its tracks.

A shape swivelling to face me.

And then everything went black.

Again.

* * *

The first thing I noticed was the dull ache pounding through my head. The second thing I noticed was the smell. I couldn't smell the homey odour of Jacob's house in La Push anymore. There was instead a strange combination of earth and fire. Unable to prevent it, I wrinkled my nose and gave a small cough.

"Bells?"

I squeezed my eyes tightly together, not even daring to believe.

"Bella, are you awake?"

Eyes flying open, I inhaled sharply as I looked up into the face of Jacob Black, mere inches from my own.

And then there was no distance between us, as I launched myself up from the ground and into his arms, tears spilling down my cheeks and onto his chest.

"Jeez Bella, first you see me and pass out and now you jump me," he chortled, stroking my hair.

"I thought…you were…I saw you…the window…" I choked out.

"It'd take a little more than some broken glass to kill me." Still laughing, he cupped my face in his left hand, gently wiping away my tears with the right.

I heard a movement behind me and started, my frayed nerves extremely close to combustion. Jacob spun me round, and I took in the forest clearing, the obscenely sized bonfire, the billowing purple smoke, and the rest of the pack stood around it.

We stood in silence, Jacob directly behind me. His warm arms were wrapped around my body, my hands in his much larger ones at my waist, keeping me warm despite the dropping temperature.

The tears pricked the back of my eyes as the remains of Victoria burned. With the warped logic of a tired mind, I felt as though the fire was also purging me of my last physical connection to…

_To Edward._

I involuntarily shuddered, and Jacob tightened his grip.

I still felt the scorch from his name, though. The tears fell silently as I mourned, not the loss of Victoria: no, never that. But I mourned the loss of my last connection to him, the only reason remaining in the entire world which could conceivably bring him back to me. I felt a peculiar lightness as this truth seeped under my skin, and realised that, even after all this time, my unconscious mind had refused to accept the possibility that I would never see him again. He could find out I was in danger, find out Victoria was after me and light up my world with his presence all over again. My soul had been hoping for it, praying for it. Wanting it so badly that it wouldn't even allow my conscious mind to acknowledge the possibility.

The possibility was dead now. I knew that implicitly.

I watched the flames twist and curl against the dark sky, and mourned its loss.


	4. The Paradox of Ice Against Fire

**Thank you so much for all the reviews on the last chapter, they made me grin like a fool for the better part of two hours.  
I had to bury the cynic inside me and attempt to come over all romantic for this chapter, I'm not quite sure whether or not I pulled it off, but hey, I gave it my best shot.  
Much love to anyone who actually takes the time to read this, it means a lot.**

* * *

_The possibility was dead now. I knew that implicitly.  
__I watched the flames twist and curl against the dark sky, and mourned its loss._

Even with the inhumanly warm arms of a werewolf wrapped around me, I couldn't prevent the shivering which overtook my body as night officially fell. The fire was beginning to die down, distorting our shadows and casting a hazy purple light through the clearing.

"C'mon Bells, I'm taking you home," Jacob's voice, low and husky, broke through the quiet, startling me. He scooped me up in his arms, nodding to the others as we passed them by, and began a brisk walk through the forest.

"You know Jake, this may come as a surprise to you, but I can actually walk. One foot in front of the other, repeat as needed. Even I can just about manage that," I tried to joke, but the nature of the day had wiped all the fight out of me, and there was no conviction to my remark.

"I have countless examples of you tripping over your own feet which put your argument to shame. Now shut up, don't fight me on this and admit you're enjoying being ferried around the place."

I gave him the best withering look I could muster, and put up a small struggle, knowing any attempt to jump out of his arms would be utterly futile. He bellowed a laugh at my pathetic escape attempt, and the trees rang with the sound. I smiled softly. The warmth of Jacob's laugh spread through me, and an inexplicable giggle escaped my throat.

As we passed his house to get to my truck, I noticed the front window had been boarded up, and light spilled into the garden from the various other windows.

"Billy," Jacob said, when he noticed the direction of my gaze. "We're claiming a bear attack on an empty house. Lucky for us, no one saw _her _so it's a feasible excuse for those who don't want to look too deeply into anything."

I snorted.

For the second time that day, Jacob lifted me into the passenger seat, cradling me as though I was about to shatter into a million pieces. I handed over the keys and curled up on the seat. Jacob was quiet on the drive back to Forks, his dark eyes reflective.

He stopped in front of my house, and shut off the engine. Neither of us moved.

_Charlie wasn't home yet._

I realised this with a shock, as I took in the dark house. The awareness that life had continued away from the forest burned into my consciousness. In the clearing, in front of the fire; my world had completely stopped, and it had genuinely felt as though the rest of the world had stopped with me. That everything had paused to take in the perfume of burning skin, to appreciate the paradox of ice against fire that the bonfire had presented.

I bit my lip as a sense of unease floated over me. Ridiculous as I knew it was, the idea of waiting alone in an empty house until Charlie returned was unsettling.

I turned my head back to Jake, and noticed him watching me carefully.

"You want me to stay with you until Charlie gets back?" Paris or no Paris, Jacob could see through me as well as any Romeo.

I blushed, and looked down.

"Would you mind? If you have to get back to Billy, I totally understand." But he was already out of the car, making his way up to my front door.

I followed quickly, opening the front door and turning on as many lights as possible when we got inside. We collapsed on the couch, him lying at one end and me at the other, our feet meeting in the middle.

"So… are you ever going to get around to telling me what happened with Victoria?"

"We fought, I won." He smirked.

"Yeah, but you also managed to get yourself thrown out a window in the process."

His smirk disappeared, and he looked thoughtful.

"Yeah, she kinda took me by surprise to begin with. I mean, I'm aware of how strong vampires are, but she was smaller than me. I didn't expect her to have that much brute force in her. It got worse when she saw you getting away, she kept trying to dodge past me. We ended up in the forest, it took me ages to drive her back there. I didn't want anyone to see us though, so I figured it was the best place. She almost got away again when we were in there. But that's when the cavalry showed up and forced her back towards me. Thanks for that, by the way." His face was still thoughtful, and he smiled at me.

"Bella to the rescue. If only I hadn't ran away from the killer vampire beforehand I'd be a hero."

Jake sat up, all lethargic thoughtfulness gone.

"Don't go all self-deprecating on me now, Bells. If it hadn't been for you, she would have gotten away again. And if she had, with you showing up at the house again later…"

His voice broke off. I didn't need any words to tell me how mind numbingly frightening the implications of that scenario would be. I didn't need him to assure me of how stupid I'd been, walking into his house with no idea whether he or Victoria would find me first. Stupider than I'd ever been.

I froze.

_Stupider than I'd ever been._

Surely my cloud-scrapingly high level of stupidity should have warranted a visit from my velvet-voiced delusion. Surely I should have heard pleading, begging, screaming at me to turn around and go back to Forks. Back to safety. But nothing had come. My head had been silent, filled to the brim with my own worry over Jacob.

_Jacob._

Jacob who was with me now. Jacob who had promised at the very beginning that I could always count on him, that he would never hurt me. Jacob with the laugh that warmed the ice forever in my heart. Jacob whose pain would physically hurt me too. Jacob who had laid down his own life to protect mine.

_Jacob._

Jacob who was sitting on the floor in front of me now, my face cupped in his hands. His face looked anxious.

"Bella? Are you okay? You spaced out for a minute there."

Without thinking, I leaned forwards and pressed my lips against his. His lips were soft and warm, and his skin smelled of smoke and bark. When I looked back on this moment in the years to come, I knew those would be the things I would remember.

But most of all, the thing that eclipsed all others, was the feeling that this belonged to me. His lips moulded to mine as though they were destined for nothing else in the world.

The kiss was gentle. I pulled back almost as quickly as I'd leaned in.

Staring straight at him, I saw the shock in his eyes.

I smiled gently.

And heard the front door opening and Charlie calling out to me. He stopped short when he looked into the front room, and witnessed the proximity between us. Mumbling something about going to fix some food, he stumbled into the kitchen. Jake stood up to go, and I walked him to the door.

He looked at me uncertainly, hovering in the doorframe. He started to speak, something about how he knew my mind was messed up after the day I'd had and we could just forget the kiss had ever happened if that was what I wanted, but I stopped him.

"Jacob Black, for as long as I live I will never for one moment regret what just happened, okay? And not only do I never want to hear something like that coming from you ever again, I don't want you to ever even _think_ it. Now go home and call me in the morning, I need to go save Charlie from burning down the house in his attempt to 'fix some food'."

His face broke out in a smile, a smile so extraordinarily ecstatic that I felt my insides soar. With a wave of his hand and a longing in his eyes he disappeared into the night and I was flying, not feeling the cold or hearing the dangerous clatter of Charlie in the kitchen.

_This was right._

I felt it in every fibre of my body, and waited for the gut-wrenching agony to arrive as I realised I was letting go. I was allowing myself to fall away from Edward. Dropping myself over the edge where I knew he could no longer reach me, because over the edge was where Jacob was waiting to save me.

And it was the most curious thing. The agony never came. Instead of the sensation I was expecting: the ripping of my soul into shreds too small to ever be put back together: I felt my insides begin their valiant, last-ditch attempt to pull me together again. To make me whole. Truthfully, I didn't know if it was possible. But I knew I would do everything in my power to bring it about.

Anything and everything to see that smile again.


	5. A Lingering Air of Finality

**Sorry it took me so long to finish this update, the lives of Henry DeTamble and Clare Abshire have been monopolising my attention for the past couple of days.  
I'm away to London on Monday so this'll be the last update for about a week. It's longer than my normal chapters though, to make up for it :)  
Thanks for all the fabby reviews, I hope there's still some people out there who want to know what happens when I get back in a week's time.  
Much love.**

* * *

_And it was the most curious thing. The agony never came. Instead of the sensation I was expecting: the ripping of my soul into tiny shreds too small to ever be put back together: I felt my insides begin their valiant, last-ditch attempt to pull me together again. To make me whole. Truthfully, I didn't know if it was possible. But I knew I would do everything in my power to bring it about.  
Anything and everything to see that smile again._

It was 1am.

My foot tapped against the leg of the chair I had dragged across to my bedroom window. I had long ago crossed my arms over my chest, in an attempt to stop my fingernails tapping against its arm. The digital clock shone the time even in the dark room. I sensed that it was mocking me and stifled the urge to throw it out the window.

The rain outside was falling lightly from a brilliant purple sky. I watched it absentmindedly, my thoughts a million miles away. Less than a million miles away, if I was to be exact. My mind was in La Push. And, try as I might, I couldn't quite call it back to Forks long enough for me to settle down and sleep.

The jitters had instigated themselves not long after Jacob had left. I was cursing my own stupidity within a half hour of his departure for telling him to call me. The rest of my night had been taken up with wondering when he would call, what he would say when he called, if he would even call in the first place, if I would see him tomorrow after the call, if things would be awkward when I did… on and on in an infuriating cycle until I noticed the tapping of my nails and the jerking of my leg and tried to shut out everything.

The wind moved through the trees, their branches dancing and leaves twitching against the dark sky. I pushed my window open a little, and listened to the quivering forest and the splattering rain.

I did this until two thirty, when I finally found myself nodding off in the chair, my brain hypnotised into a sleepy stupor by the pat-pat-pat of rain droplets. Falling gratefully into bed, I wrapped myself in a cocoon of covers and slept.

* * *

I was startled awake by the phone ringing downstairs. By the light flowing through the closed window, I could tell it was late morning. Wait. The closed window. Had I shut it again last night? I couldn't remember doing it, but then I also couldn't remember the point where I stopped obsessively pondering over Jacob and nodded off in the chair. I shook my head at myself.

_I was losing my mind._

A thought which, of course, brought me straight back to the present and the fact that the phone had just rung downstairs. I leapt out of bed, and bounded down the stairs. Charlie's face when I reached the kitchen stopped me in my tracks.

"Harry died," he murmured thickly, before I could ask.

"Oh, Dad."

I crossed the room quickly, hugged him. It was devastating to see Charlie, my father, so diminished. To wrap my arms around him and feel as though he was the smaller one in my embrace.

From somewhere his muffled voice sounded: he wanted to go to the hospital. He wanted to offer condolences to Sue, Seth and Leah. To mourn quietly with Billy.

I offered to drive, he was in no fit condition to get himself anywhere.

We were quiet in the car. I thought about the last time I had driven to the very same hospital, in my storm of panic and fear. My breathing was deep and even now, my thoughts preoccupied with Charlie's pain.

It didn't hit me what I was walking into until we reached that same corridor, looked down and saw Jacob standing with Quil and Embry.

I froze, and Charlie glanced at me quizzically, the ghost of a smile flitting across his features. The walk was inevitable though, and it got worse when all three heard the sound of our feet clicking along the floor, and watched our approach. I felt the blush rising on my cheeks, and prayed wildly that it wasn't visible to anyone else. From the small grins playing around the mouths of Quil and Embry as we reached them, I gathered my prayers had gone unanswered.

Condolences were shared and support offered, and then Charlie left to find the adults. I found myself alone, facing three teenage boys. My awkwardness melted a little as I suddenly realised the significance of that number.

"Quil! Err… how've you been lately?"

"Isolated. Alone. Confused."

"Oh."

"Until last night of course, when I barged out my back door and changed into a big wolf."

He smirked at me. Embry and Jake looked pained. I slumped against the wall beside them, next to Jake. My arm brushed against his as I leaned back, the contact sending a small shiver down my spine. I shifted myself so there was a space between us, trying for the moment to prevent myself from displaying every feeling I had right across my face.

Jake squinted at me, he had noticed my not so subtle shift away from him.

"Weren't you two just leaving to get coffee?" he muttered gruffly to his friends.

"We were? You know, I think I changed my mind," Quil grinned, that same impish grin from the first time I met him, standing in Jake's garage. His increased height and muscles had done nothing to change it.

Embry cuffed him on the arm as he moved to leave, and Quil reluctantly followed.

Which left me, staring awkwardly at the empty wall in front of me. Not looking at Jacob.

He sighed.

"Just get it over with Bella."

His sharp voice cut through me, and I twisted myself round to face him. In doing so, I knocked into his arm. The electricity shot through me again, taking my breath away. His eyes flashed as he glared at me. Then my hands were reaching for him, pulling him to me. Then his lips were on mine. Then I was pushed back against the wall. Then his hands were twisting in my hair. Then my nails were digging into the soft skin at the nape of his neck. Then his tongue was in my mouth and I was disappearing, vanishing into Jacob Black, all my want and need and worry from the last two days poured out into that one never-ending kiss.

We broke apart after an indiscernible length of time, taking ragged breaths, when we heard a loud cough nearby. My eyes were dazed, but I made out the dim outlines of Embry and Quil standing a safe distance away, disbelief etched on their faces.

"Believe me when I say how sorry we are to break this up, but Sam needs us at Emily's now, Jake. There's stuff to sort out for the funeral, and stuff of an entirely different nature to go through with Quil…" Embry trailed off. Jake nodded, and they disappeared.

"I'll come see you at your house tonight?" he asked, looking wary.

I kissed him again and nodded. He smiled swiftly, and disappeared. I was alone long enough to feel staggeringly guilty at our performance when one of Charlie's oldest friends was being mourned somewhere extremely close by, before I moved to find him. He was with Billy and Sue Clearwater.

I spent the rest of the afternoon by his side, watching him help to make arrangements for the funeral and the wake, watching him converse quietly with mourners, and occasionally offering up my own conversation and support when he was alone. We left just before dinnertime, heading home where I made food and we ate it with much of the same silence reigning over the table as there had been the previous night. Charlie retired to watch TV while I washed the dishes, losing my grip on a plate and smashing it on the floor when I heard the doorbell ring.

"Shoot," I muttered, dancing over the broken pieces to get to the door.

And there he was, just like he said he'd be. Hands in pockets and looking slightly apprehensive, but there all the same. I smiled and motioned him inside, where he followed me to the kitchen and watched while I cleaned up the broken plate.

He moved forward as I dumped the pieces in the trash and kissed me once. It felt hungry, and had a lingering air of finality to it. Like the prisoner on death row taking in his last lungful of fresh air.

I pulled away and peered up at him.

"Why do you look like you're expecting me to sprout wings and fly away somewhere?"

"Because that's exactly what I'm expecting."

I couldn't help it, a snort escaped me.

He grinned ruefully, a single lock of hair falling into his black eyes, which radiated such an immense sadness that I almost felt my knees buckle.

"Well, maybe not exactly. But I keep waiting for you to tell me that this is all a mistake, and that you're sorry and you still love me as a friend, but you've just been really stressed these past few days and that's the only reason this keeps happening."

I made him step away from me and sit down at the table then. Attempting to think straight and explain complicated feelings while he was so close to me was an impossible task.

I sat down opposite. And I explained. I explained until my voice was hoarse. I spent every last bit of energy I had within me trying to convince Jacob that I was ready, that this was what I wanted, that I wasn't suddenly going to change my mind and fly off into the night.

The only thing I didn't explain was Edward. I let it go unsaid because I felt that opening such newly closed wounds would be tempting fate.

And when I was finally done explaining, Jacob's smile returned. It stayed in place for the rest of the night; it stayed in place so long that I was afraid his cheeks would crack under the pressure. We moved to my room, my door wide open for Charlie's benefit.

We talked of trivial things, always smiling, as I got used to the sensation of being able to move my hand slowly across his cheek, of wrapping my arms around his waist and pulling him closer to me, of stroking the rogue strands of hair that were constantly falling in his eyes away.

He left when Charlie came upstairs to go to bed, and I needed no promise of a phone call the next morning. I knew I would be seeing him.

I changed quickly for bed, the lack of sleep the previous night and events of the past two days finally taking their toll on me. My eyes were heavy with sleep as I lay down, turning myself over so that I was facing the window, to get more comfortable. I was so far gone I thought I saw a flash of white through the glass, and then I was falling into unconsciousness.


	6. Slept Like the Dead

**I'm baaaaaaaaaack!  
****London was just amazingness in a jar. It was secondhand bookshop heaven too. I ended up coming home with my suitcase 17 books heavier.  
****In answer to the always perceptive Annie's (EmeraldFaith's) question in her review (she wondered how Jacob managed to take out Victoria when even Edward barely managed it): I was reading the 'Being Jacob Black' thing on SMeyer's website, and he's describing the fight with Laurent, and how startingly easy he found it to kill him, how he thought he could have 'taken the leech all by himself'. So I figured it was plausible that the same could be said for Victoria. Plus, let's be honest here, Jacob is one kickass werewolf. It's been said many times how quickly and easily he picks up wolfy things that it takes the others ages to master. There is no doubt in my mind that he could handle her. And given the extra worry about Bella and how close she came to getting totally mauled, it just gives him that extra incentive to want to completely destroy Victoria.  
But enough of my rather long-winded explanations, I've missed you all and your lovely reviews. They never fail to make me smile.  
I hope you like this chapter.**

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_My eyes were heavy with sleep as I lay down, turning myself over so that I was facing the window, to get more comfortable. I was so far gone I thought I saw a flash of white through the glass, and then I was falling into unconsciousness._

When my eyes opened, it was still pitch black. I gazed around stupidly for a moment, attempting to pinpoint what could have woken me so abruptly. I could see nothing out of place, and turned myself over again, ready for sleep to reclaim me. My breath scratched against the back of my throat, and I sighed as I realised how thirsty I was. Heaving myself up off the bed, I made my way to the kitchen for a glass of water.

The noise of cupboards opening and water running echoed loud in the silent house. I walked slowly back upstairs, taking a long sip of the water as I went. I reached my bedroom door, and the water caught in my throat. The glass dropped from my hand and landed with a thunk on the carpet, water cascading from it as it fell. My feet were soaking wet, and I was gulping air, clutching at the oxygen in an attempt to calm the frenzy at the back of my throat, where the water had forced itself down the wrong way.

And I didn't notice.

I didn't notice the cold spreading through my bare toes. I didn't notice the now empty glass rolling along the floor and coming to a halt when it hit off the wall. I didn't notice my laboured breathing.

I didn't notice anything except Edward standing in the middle of my room.

Edward Cullen was standing in the middle of my room. As though he had never left.

He turned around slowly at the sound of the fallen glass, my bed cover bunched in his hands and a resigned look upon his face.

I gaped. Somewhere my mind was telling me to rearrange my face into something slightly resembling normal, but the message wasn't communicating to any of my muscles.

"Hello," he whispered.

His soft voice was overwhelmingly familiar and alien to me all at once. It lifted me up and took me back a year, gently putting me down in a place where I was happy and everything seemed relatively simple.

_Where I was happy._

But that would mean I wasn't happy now.

Was I happy now?

The first months following Edward's departure I couldn't remember at all. Even after Jacob appeared, everything was still a little hazy around the edges. But these past few days…

I noticed Edward watching me anxiously, and wondered how long had passed since he'd spoken.

"Hi," I whispered back, wincing as I did at the lame greeting, at the fact that I had so much to say and yet couldn't manage more than one syllable.

He opened his hands and let my duvet fall back onto the bed. It was the only movement in the still room.

"What are you doing?" I managed to croak out eventually.

"I was worried about you," his voice was still low, always musical.

"I was outside, watching. I looked away for a second, and you were gone. I thought something had happened."

"You were watching? Why?"

"I never really believe that you're safe unless I can see it with my own eyes. I panicked when I noticed you had disappeared."

"Yes… but _why_?"

He looked nonplussed, so I continued.

"But you LEFT, Edward. It doesn't… I don't understand… You don't want me anymore so why are you watching?"

He barked a laugh, crossing the distance between us until he was standing at my side. I looked up at him, every single wound I had tried so hard to heal tearing open again at the close proximity of his breathtaking perfection.

"Bella. You don't honestly believe that I don't care? That I ever stopped caring?"

Laughter was still evident in his voice, but his eyes were tortured.

"I… no. I understand that you feel guilty, but you shouldn't let that keep you outside my window."

He smiled again.

"Guilt? You think it's guilt that's kept me in agony all these months, that's forced me to break the one promise to you that I wanted so badly to keep? You think it's guilt that's brought me careening back to Forks when everything in me is screaming that you would be so much better off never seeing me again?"

I stared at him stupidly. What he was suggesting…

No. Not that. My brain wouldn't allow me to think it.

Edward must have noticed the look on my face, and sensed the denial on the tip of my tongue, because he held up his hand and began to talk again.

"You are extraordinarily stubborn. Especially when you're wrong. I lied, Bella. I never for one minute stopped loving you. It's just not possible. But I knew the only way you would let me go was if I convinced you of it."

I needed to sit down. I half stumbled, half dragged myself over to the bed and threw myself down. Curling my limbs around myself, I stared at Edward over the tops of my knees. He was frozen in position by the door. I motioned for him to sit.

"I thought I could do it, you know."

"Do what?" I whispered.

"Tear myself away from you. Because I thought it was best for you, I thought I could cope."

"And you couldn't?" My voice broke.

"No. I couldn't." His tone was so soft.

The soporific effect of curling up on a bed was beginning to get to me. As much as I tried to fight it, I could feel my eyelids growing heavy. Edward noticed too, and began to stand up.

"So… you're back?" I asked, tentatively. I wasn't sure which answer I wanted to hear more.

"If you want me to be, I'm back," he murmured, equally as tentatively.

"I'll come back in the morning?"

I nodded my head, and he moved to leave. He was at the window when he turned on his heel and marched back towards me. Cupping my face in his hands, he kissed me then. My heart jump started, just like it always had. I was back in the past, and he had never left. The cool of his lips erased the burning frenzy of Jacob, and left me clinging on to that simpler time. Before everything had gone horribly wrong.

He pulled away and the spell was broken. He left silently, and I watched him go before flattening myself on the bed.

I sensed a choice looming over me, and slept like the dead.

When I woke up, the house was quiet. An investigation informed me that Charlie was out, and I would be eating breakfast solo. I turned to the cupboard to fetch a bowl and some cereal, and nearly had a heart attack when I turned back around to the table and found Edward sitting there.

"You couldn't have knocked?" I gasped, sitting down opposite him.

He chuckled, the smile lighting up his whole face.

"So," I said, studying him.

"So?" he questioned.

"So last night wasn't a dream, or a figment of my overly tired brain. You're really back?"

"I'll be back if you want me to be back, Bella. My selfish urges appear to have taken control of me completely, because I can't find a single piece of myself left that's willing to be without you again. If you still want me. Do you?" his voice had dropped to a whisper, and his eyes pierced me.

The question hung in the quiet air, and he took my hand across the table, holding it in both of his. I couldn't move my eyes away from his.

"Yeah Bells, I think that's the million dollar question right there. Do you still want him?"

The harsh voice shook me out of my reverie, and I looked up at the still form of Jacob, standing frozen in the doorway.

* * *

**A/N: Another cliffhanger. I actually suck, I know.  
It's like a sickness, I can't stop myself writing them.**


	7. Damn the Consequences

**I wasn't planning on finishing this chapter until tomorrow night, but a review changed my mind. So AwwLookTheSkyIsCrying, I hope you have an amazing time in Cyprus. This one's for you…  
****As a side note, I phoned in sick to work on Saturday morning because I was hungover and my boss found out, so I'm preparing to be killed when I go in for my shift tomorrow. If I haven't updated by Thursday at the latest, someone phone the police and report a murder for me!**

* * *

"_Yeah Bells, I think that's the million dollar question right there. Do you still want him?"_

_The harsh voice shook me out of my reverie, and I looked up to see into the eyes of Jacob, standing frozen in the doorway._

* * *

It was windy, but not raining yet. It was cold, but I could barely feel it. I sat down slowly, my limbs stiff from standing in the same position for such a long period of time.

My legs dangled over the edge of the cliff top as I stared out across the water, my world falling to pieces as the wind whipped through my hair and cut at my bare arms.

_How had I ended up back here?_

* * *

Jacob had waited. He hadn't moved, staring at me from across the room. I couldn't think, let alone speak. It was all I could do to stare back at him, to feel myself slowly incinerating under the power of his gaze. I don't know how long he stood, before he finally admitted defeat. I saw the flash of anguish distort his features and before I could fathom what was happening he was turning, leaving as silently as he'd come.

I continued to stare at the spot where he had been standing, only now I could feel the eyes burning into the back of my head as Edward watched. Choking sobs consumed me, shaking me body and soul.

I cried until I was utterly worn out. It was then I noticed the cold, and found myself in Edward's embrace. I wondered without interest how long we'd been sitting like that, as I wriggled out of his arms. He moved into a chair beside me.

"Did you know he was there?" My voice was hoarse.

"Yes," he whispered, a brand new pain in his eyes. Pain because my suffering was killing him.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I…" For once, Edward seemed lost for words. There was a short silence.

"Because I wanted to know. Because I heard his thoughts all the way from the front of your house, his memories of the two of you happy. Because the part of me that I detest wanted to know if he was enough to take you away from me forever." His mouth twisted.

"I'm so sorry, Bella. Believe me when I say that seeing the pain I'm causing you is killing me. I just wish it was enough to make me leave without an answer."

I looked at my hands, moving them slowly to entwine them with his. I kissed his cool marble cheek softly, and stood up.

"I love you, Edward. I always have and I always will. But I need some time to think."

He nodded and smiled, but his face never completely relaxed.

"I'll be at the house," he whispered, and disappeared.

I moved quickly after he left, getting dressed and scribbling a note for Charlie. I grabbed my keys and raced out to the truck. In my haste I had forgotten to pick up a jacket, but by the time I realised this I was far enough away from the house to decide it made no sense to go back now.

I had driven around aimlessly for around three quarters of an hour when I noticed myself slowly inching closer to La Push. The time between this realisation and my foot stepping on the gas and forcing the truck to lurch as fast as it was able towards his house was miniscule. I stopped at the end of his street, not quite able to bring myself any closer.

My hands were shaking as I gripped the wheel, urging myself forwards. The truck inched along the street, until I was one house away from the Blacks. Unconsciously, I felt myself speed up the car until I was flying past, not slowing until I reached the cliff top.

I climbed out of the car, and stepped cautiously forward.

I thought about the last time I was here, and the unbearable longing I'd felt for Edward that had made me blind to danger. Back then, I would have willingly jumped to my death over the cliff's edge if I was guaranteed an eternity in the afterlife with him. I would have thrown away Jacob, thrown away Charlie even, if I knew my wish could be granted. But now…

I had mourned Edward. I had let him go. I had shut my mind off to him and, in doing so, let Jacob in. When he had stopped me from jumping, a piece of me had broken away. The piece of me that would risk my own life because I loved Edward so much. I wondered if that piece was gone forever now. The piece of me that could love unconditionally, that would urge me to damn the consequences and do whatever it took for the person I was supposed to be with. A single tear dropped down my cheek as I acknowledged the possibility. And dealt with the realisation that I couldn't be sure who that one person I was supposed to want to die for was anymore.

Because, more than anything, it was Jacob's pain that was killing me now. The look on his face as he had turned away from me replayed endlessly in my mind, burnt onto the inside of my eyelids.

_You could bring back his smile…_

The thought moved uncomfortable around in my head. I wanted to, so badly.

I knew deep down that Jacob Black was meant for me. I had known it from the first time my lips touched his. When we were together… it fit.

_But Edward…_

Edward couldn't have been meant for me. Edward wasn't meant to live past 1918. But somehow, being with Edward was perfection. I couldn't deny it any more than I could deny the love for Jacob that I felt blossoming.

It was windy, but not raining yet. It was cold, but I could barely feel it. I sat down slowly, my limbs stiff from standing in the same position for such a long period of time.

My legs dangled over the edge of the cliff top as I stared out across the water, my world falling to pieces as the wind whipped through my hair and cut at my bare arms.

_How had I ended up back here?_

I heard a sound behind me, and felt the inexplicable warmth radiating from Jacob as he sat down beside me.

"You promised not to terrify me again, Bells. Did you not think I'd hear your truck go tearing by my house at a madman's speed?" He wrapped his arms around his knees. His face was an empty mask.

"Sorry," I mumbled sheepishly. "I promise I have no extreme sports intentions this time. I just wanted a place to think."

His face lit up.

"To think? To think?"

I raised my eyebrows in confusion and nodded. He looked like a little boy, his face radiating hope.

"So… you haven't… decided yet? You're not… back together with him yet?"

The tears spilled over at this. He looked so happy at the thought that he might still have a chance. I was the most awful person in the world. I didn't deserve him. I didn't deserve his happiness at the hope that I might eventually decide I loved him more than Edward. The thought literally sickened me.

"No," I choked out. "No, I haven't _decided_ yet. Jacob, I…"

"No. Don't even think about apologising. I knew what I was letting myself in for with this, and I'm not giving up. Until you tell me it's over Bella, I'll be there fighting for you. I want you to remember that."

He wrapped his arm around my shoulder, and we stared at the turbulent sea.


	8. A Peculiar Emptiness

**I'm so sorry this took me such a long time to write, I was quite literally at a loss for words. Writer's block is a terrible, terrible thing and is now officially going in my Room 101. If it wasn't for all the wonderful reviews I probably would have given up and moved on, so thank you to everyone who left me a comment, or who added this story to their alert list.  
****Hopefully there'll never be such a long wait between chapters again, but I'm writing an Embry fic now too (yes folks, that was a shameless promotion: visit my profile and give it a read if you have the chance) so I don't think I'll be able to update quite as fast as I was doing before.  
****I'm praying to God this chapter was worth the wait, I'm not entirely sure how it's come out so some opinions would be grand.**

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"_No. Don't even think about apologising. I knew what I was letting myself in for with this, and I'm not giving up. Until you tell me it's over Bella, I'll be there fighting for you. I want you to remember that."  
__He wrapped his arm around my shoulder, and we stared at the turbulent sea._

The waves were mesmerising me. I watched the ebb and flow of the tide, fascinated by the sheer power in a single wave as it crashed against the land. I wondered briefly about the destruction it must be causing underneath the surface. A thousand tiny sea animals, all making their home on the seabed, only to have it abruptly torn away from them in one movement from the relentless waves. I felt an odd solidarity with them; every time I had thought my life was heading towards solid ground in the past few days another wave had come along, devastating everything and leaving me broken in its wake.

The motion of the sea was repeated over and over in a dizzying cycle, until I felt myself become lightheaded with it and my eyes grew heavy with sleep. I slumped a little into Jacob, no longer caring that I was sat on a cliff top without a jacket in the middle of one of the country's rainiest towns. I felt a safe certainty with his arms around me which I could never seem to replicate in his absence. My head started nodding as I lost the will to hold it up, and I could feel rather than see Jacob's smile as he supported my weight easily.

The stillness was absolute, the only movement coming from the fierce waves far below us.

And then Jacob's arm tightened around me and I heard a low hiss build in the back of his throat.

"Jake, ow!"

His hand was unconsciously gripping my shoulder, pinching the skin underneath my shirt. He didn't even hear my exclamation as he pulled himself to his feet with immeasurable grace. His entire body began to shake and I hastily stood up beside him, albeit with undeniably less poise. I laid a placating hand on his arm while I stared at him in complete consternation. He shook me off immediately, while glaring at something in the distance which I couldn't see. The shaking was growing more violent by the second. I followed the direction of his burning eyes, and stared at the empty path. I blinked once in confusion, and as my eyelids fluttered open again I felt sure I'd been transported into a nightmare. I squeezed my eyes shut and rubbed my temples, praying that when I opened them again the hellish scene would have disappeared.

I opened my eyes.

Edward was standing directly opposite, his face a hard mask of pain as he took in my close proximity to the shaking Jacob.

"Jake," I whispered. He ignored me.

"Jake!" I was more urgent this time.

"Jake, listen to me! You _need_ to calm down now."

His face contorted and the convulsions wracking his body worsened.

"Calm down?" he hissed, his voice barely recognisable under the rage now clouding it.

"CALM DOWN?! We have a treaty. That might not mean anything to your leech of a boyfriend but to us he's just started a war."

I recoiled from the hard slap of his anger, taking a step back.

"Edward, why are you here?" I asked, my voice desperate now.

"Alice called," he began, his voice hollow. "She saw you standing at the edge of a cliff and then you completely disappeared from her line of sight. I thought you had jumped."

"You started a war because you thought Bella had indulged in a little cliff-diving?" Jacob interjected, derision dripping from his every word.

"Are you telling me you wouldn't do the same for her, dog?" Edward's fury was beginning to show now.

Jacob turned, his eyes only for me.

"I would do the same for you."

I stared helplessly between the two of them as Jake looked back to Edward, unable to prevent whatever cataclysmic result I had unwittingly set in motion.

"But regardless of that, I wouldn't be stupid enough to end a decades-old treaty based on the shoddy opinion of a fortune-telling bloodsucker."

Edward snarled now, his stance shifting into a crouch. The image of a mountain lion floated unbidden into my mind as I looked at him, my fear paralysing me.

"That's right, you would rather wake up in your front room with a half-crazed vampire a metre away from a sleeping Bella. Your methods of keeping her safe are much better than mine, of course."

Jacob face froze. The shaking stopped. For a split-second I could see every thought in his head passing across his face. His shock as Edward described that afternoon perfectly, his understanding as he remembered Edward could hear every thought passing through his brain, and finally his pure unfiltered rage as he leaped through the air, the russet wolf I was coming to recognise so easily erupting from his skin as he flew.

I screamed his name as I took a step backwards, away from the tornado of marble and fur which was now destroying the surrounding area.

I took a step back to protect myself, and I felt the air whipping around my body. I felt a peculiar emptiness underneath my feet, and I felt my stomach cave in on itself as my brain registered what my body had been trying to communicate.

I was falling, faster and harder than I'd ever thought possible.

I was trying to scream, but my terror was freezing the noise on my lips.

I was hitting the water, the collision stopping my thoughts temporarily and the temperature like a thousand tiny needles stabbing into my skin.

I was drowning, the waves repeatedly pulling me under no matter how many times my flailing limbs tried to keep me at the surface.


End file.
